How IT Makes Company a Better Company

How IT Makes Company a Better Company

University of Pisa, Department of Economics and Management, Italy

iacopo.cavallini@unipi.it

Giuseppina Iacoviello

University of Pisa, Department of Economics and Management, Italy

giuseppina.iacoviello@unipi.it

“Manager should consider unnecessary mentioning what’s right” (Saraceno, 2013). Pursuing this line of thought, many studies have underlined that the success of a strategy depends on identifying what is wrong with the performance of people involved and manager has several options when confronted with a decision-making problem.

Companies that operate in international context have to deal with an amplitude of problems, and the perception the pecularities of a foreign culture is a particularly important skill in order to deal with all unpredictable and diverse issue and to achieve the aims of the company.

Regarding to business many scholars have payed attention on the issue of culture differences (Hofstede G., 1999, 2001; Hofstede G.J., Minkov M. and Hofstede G., 2010; 2014; Triandis, 2004; Furrer, 2000; Minkov, 2011).

In particular, Hofstede G. has developed a model useful in the implementation of many business systems, such as budget control practices, leadership styles or management control systems (Jones M.L., 2007). In fact Hofstede G. has identified six cultural dimensions that provide an explanation for the different approach toward business, that distinguish countries: power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism, masculinity, long-term orientation, and indulgence.

Therefore the 6D model can account for a framework for managing the company’s knowledge. Dealing across diverse cultures requires not only a training program, but also a change in the mind-set, something that especially managers have to practice on a daily basis and even more when it comes to data and information sharing. Moreover, operating in different countries and facing difficulties, specifically gives managers the opportunity to acquire relevant information, that can be shared through information systems, whereas shared experience creates bonds and ultimately is the key for a successful business.

The aim of this paper is to demonstrate how Information Technology can support companies to identify the route to the development of knowledge and organisational skills, develops successful strategies to deal with cultural differences in a manner that is also coherent with the vision of the company. So, since the contribution of exploratory case study research to theory-building is well documented, in order to achieve the goal we will use the qualitative method. In fact despite the challenges the results of case study research can have very high impact, because unconstrained by the rigid limits of questionnaires and models, and it can lead to new and creative insights, and to the ideation of new theory, not to maention the high validity that they have for practitioners – the ultimate users of research.

Keywords: management control system, culture, information technology